Nelson Mandela discharged from hospital

Former South African President Nelson Mandela has been
discharged from hospital, ending a nearly three-week stay
during which he was treated for a lung infection and had
surgery to remove gallstones, the government says.

The 94-year-old anti-apartheid leader and Nobel Peace Prize
laureate has been moved to his Johannesburg home. He has been
in frail health for several years.

"He will undergo home-based high care at his ... home until
he recovers fully," the government said in a statement issued
by the presidency.

"We request a continuation of the privacy consideration in
order to allow for the best possible conditions for full
recovery," it said, without offering further details.

Mandela has a history of lung problems dating back to when he
contracted tuberculosis while in jail as a political
prisoner. He spent 27 years in prison, including 18 years on
the windswept Robben Island off Cape Town.

The former president was admitted to a Pretoria hospital on
Dec. 8 and this was his longest stay in hospital since he was
released from prison in 1990.

Current President Jacob Zuma visited Mandela on Christmas Day
and said the former South African leader was doing much
better, making progress and in good spirits.

Mandela was also admitted to hospital in February because of
abdominal pain but released the following day after a keyhole
examination showed there was nothing seriously wrong with
him.

He has spent most of his time since then in another home in
Qunu, his ancestral village in the impoverished Eastern Cape
province.

His poor health has prevented him from making any public
appearances in the past two years, although he has continued
to receive high-profile visitors, including former U.S.
President Bill Clinton earlier this year.

Mandela became South Africa's first black president after the
country's first all-race elections in 1994.

After his release from prison, he used his popularity to push
for reconciliation between whites and blacks, which became
the bedrock of the post-apartheid "Rainbow Nation".

Mandela stepped down as president in 1999 after one term in
office and has largely been absent from public life for the
last decade.